My RDO, a week early.
Mar. 23rd, 2004 10:24 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mrsbrownI was going to write about why I'm not at work, then I got an email on the Lochac children's list and wrote in reply, here is the gist of what I wrote:
[There are a set of boffer rules that are currently being sent about and are likely to become "the way it is" by default, because someone took the trouble to write them. They include some good stuff about how to run tourneys for children but also prescribe full armour, including metal helms for older kids. I'm not keen on armour for boffering - it seems to defeat the purpose of a fun, silly occupation, using equipment that can't hurt you.]
Kids currently do boffering because it is fun. They can make friends with other kids by asking for a bout, anywhere, anytime and learn very good stuff, without adult intervention, when they organise their own "pick up" wars. We need to make sure that the rules we make don't get in the way of this.
My favourite story about festival was when Rowan was approached by about 15 kids who were heading off to have a bridge battle (at the old, old site) and needed an adult to be with them. They had decided what they wanted to do, collected more kids along the way and knew they needed to find an appropriate adult. If we make too many rules, this sort of spontaneous war may not happen.
As quoted in The Age" ( http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/01/14/1073877896188.html ) some Australian researchers found that:
"... many traditional playground games offered more for children's wellbeing than the syllabus games."
and also
"In the interests of public health, schools and after-school programs should encourage children to play spontaneous games, and should provide free time and environments friendly to such games."
I'm not speaking against organising activities for the kids at Festival but my children get so much out of Festival because it is a time to experience independence and spontaneity that they don't often get. If we get too organised and regulated because that's what we think is necessary for children in today's world, maybe they will miss out experiencing the middle ages (as they should have been) from a child's perspective.
I'm home because I had such a bad day at work yesterday, I got nothing done. I got to work, stared at the page for a while, got a cup of tea, went to the toilet, stared at the page for a while, did an internet search for something obscurely connected to answering my question, got a drink of water, chatted to someone, went to the toilet, stared at the page for a while, got a drink of water (pausing to read the paper in the lunchroom), stared at the page for a while, etc...
I think I'm pre-menstrual and when J challenged me to come up with 7 reasons to stay home today, I found 9. Now I can only think of 7 of them, they are:
1. I'm pre-menstrual and need to do easy, non-challenging things.
2. Z has a hospital apointment at 2pm today, so I was going to have to leave early anyway
3. My new printer is now ready to pick up - I can pick it up this morning
4. If I buy the wool I need today, I will have more time to sew than if I bought it next week on my regular RDO
5. T needs new shoes which I can buy after school today more cheaply than if I have to go somewhere that is open out of work hours.
6. I'm pre-menstrual so I won't get anything useful done at work and will just feel terrible about it, which will impact on everything else I do for the rest of the week.
7. I can get lots of sewing done
Now I'm off to do it
[There are a set of boffer rules that are currently being sent about and are likely to become "the way it is" by default, because someone took the trouble to write them. They include some good stuff about how to run tourneys for children but also prescribe full armour, including metal helms for older kids. I'm not keen on armour for boffering - it seems to defeat the purpose of a fun, silly occupation, using equipment that can't hurt you.]
Kids currently do boffering because it is fun. They can make friends with other kids by asking for a bout, anywhere, anytime and learn very good stuff, without adult intervention, when they organise their own "pick up" wars. We need to make sure that the rules we make don't get in the way of this.
My favourite story about festival was when Rowan was approached by about 15 kids who were heading off to have a bridge battle (at the old, old site) and needed an adult to be with them. They had decided what they wanted to do, collected more kids along the way and knew they needed to find an appropriate adult. If we make too many rules, this sort of spontaneous war may not happen.
As quoted in The Age" ( http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/01/14/1073877896188.html ) some Australian researchers found that:
"... many traditional playground games offered more for children's wellbeing than the syllabus games."
and also
"In the interests of public health, schools and after-school programs should encourage children to play spontaneous games, and should provide free time and environments friendly to such games."
I'm not speaking against organising activities for the kids at Festival but my children get so much out of Festival because it is a time to experience independence and spontaneity that they don't often get. If we get too organised and regulated because that's what we think is necessary for children in today's world, maybe they will miss out experiencing the middle ages (as they should have been) from a child's perspective.
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I'm home because I had such a bad day at work yesterday, I got nothing done. I got to work, stared at the page for a while, got a cup of tea, went to the toilet, stared at the page for a while, did an internet search for something obscurely connected to answering my question, got a drink of water, chatted to someone, went to the toilet, stared at the page for a while, got a drink of water (pausing to read the paper in the lunchroom), stared at the page for a while, etc...
I think I'm pre-menstrual and when J challenged me to come up with 7 reasons to stay home today, I found 9. Now I can only think of 7 of them, they are:
1. I'm pre-menstrual and need to do easy, non-challenging things.
2. Z has a hospital apointment at 2pm today, so I was going to have to leave early anyway
3. My new printer is now ready to pick up - I can pick it up this morning
4. If I buy the wool I need today, I will have more time to sew than if I bought it next week on my regular RDO
5. T needs new shoes which I can buy after school today more cheaply than if I have to go somewhere that is open out of work hours.
6. I'm pre-menstrual so I won't get anything useful done at work and will just feel terrible about it, which will impact on everything else I do for the rest of the week.
7. I can get lots of sewing done
Now I'm off to do it
